CN109154276B

CN109154276B - Control of wind turbines using real-time blade models

Info

Publication number: CN109154276B
Application number: CN201780026694.8A
Authority: CN
Inventors: J·D·格林内特; T·克吕格尔
Original assignee: Vestas Wind Systems AS
Current assignee: Vestas Wind Systems AS
Priority date: 2016-03-30
Filing date: 2017-03-30
Publication date: 2020-10-20
Anticipated expiration: 2037-03-30
Also published as: WO2017167344A1; EP3436694B1; US10975845B2; ES2873674T3; CN109154276A; EP3436694A1; US20190128242A1

Abstract

A wind turbine control system comprising a controller of a control mechanism of a wind turbine, wherein said controller implements a computerized real-time blade model to calculate operational parameters of the controller, and wherein said computerized real-time blade model receives as inputs a determined wind turbine operating point and a real-time estimated rotor plane wind speed value. In another aspect, embodiments of the present invention provide a method of controlling a control mechanism of a wind turbine. Advantageously, the present invention provides a more flexible and responsive control system that can accommodate changing wind conditions even if those wind conditions are outside of the normally predicted range.

Description

Control of wind turbines using real-time blade models

Technical Field

The present invention relates to a method for controlling a mechanism or an actuation system of a wind turbine, an associated control system and also to a wind turbine equipped with such a control system.

Background

Modern utility-scale wind turbines are designed to operate in various wind conditions in order to maximize energy extraction from the wind. To achieve this, wind turbines are usually equipped with blades, the pitch angle of which can be controlled by a blade pitch control system. The blade pitch is controlled by rotating each blade about its longitudinal axis, which rotation changes the angle of attack of the blade with respect to the oncoming wind flow.

Pitch control is the main control mechanism above rated wind speed, where the wind turbine will tend to operate in a full load strategy, the objective of which is to maintain a constant power output. This may be accomplished by controlling the blade pitch angle to ensure that the torque produced by the rotor does not increase beyond an allowable limit, such as a limit determined by a power reference set point.

Blade pitch control may be applied collectively and individually. For example, the collective component is a pitch adjustment in which the pitch angles of all the blades change simultaneously, and is the main control action for adjusting the torque produced by the rotor. Instead, the individual pitch components may adjust the pitch of the selected blades independently of each other and may be used primarily to balance the loads exerted on the rotor shaft.

The configuration of the pitch control system, and in particular the loop gains of the various controllers implemented in the control system, is largely determined by the operating range of the wind turbine. Typically, modeling is performed during the design phase to determine the gains required to ensure that the pitch control system is able to achieve its desired control objectives across substantially the entire predicted operating range of the wind turbine. However, this approach has limitations because the loop gain is only simulated for selected points of the operating range of the wind turbine. This may reduce the ability of the system to control rotor loads during more unusual or extreme operating conditions.

It is in this context that the embodiments of the present invention have been devised.

Disclosure of Invention

According to a first aspect, embodiments of the present invention provide a wind turbine control system comprising:

a controller of a control mechanism of the wind turbine, wherein the controller implements a computerized real-time blade model to calculate operational parameters of the controller;

and wherein the computerized real-time blade model receives as inputs the determined wind turbine operating point and the real-time estimated rotor plane wind speed value.

In another aspect, embodiments of the present invention provide a method of controlling a control mechanism of a wind turbine, the method comprising:

calculating operating parameters of the controller based on the computerized real-time blade model;

The invention may also reside in a computer program product downloadable from a communication network and/or stored on a machine-readable medium, the computer program product comprising program code instructions for implementing a method as defined above.

Advantageously, the present invention provides a more flexible and responsive control system that can accommodate changing wind conditions even if those wind conditions are outside of the normally predicted range. Since the controller operating parameters are calculated in real time and based on the modeled blade characteristics and the real-time estimated rotor plane wind speed values, the controller is able to obtain a very accurate observation of the load on the rotor caused by the blades. This, in turn, improves the achievable response of the controller. Thus, in the case of a blade pitch controller, the controller is able to control the blade pitch more efficiently and thus, for example, more accurately control the load on the blades.

In one embodiment, the estimated rotor plane wind speed value is calculated from the difference between the actual generated power value and the estimated generated power value. The estimated resulting power value may be obtained from a computerized real-time blade model. Here, the estimated rotor plane wind speed may be considered as the wind speed of the plane swept area of the rotating blades, among other things.

The system may include one or more control modules, each of which outputs a control signal for controlling a control mechanism.

In one embodiment, the operating parameters calculated by the computerized real-time blade model are used to calculate one or more gain parameters associated with the or each control module. The or each gain parameter may be a control term of a control law implemented in the respective control module. Furthermore, the or each gain parameter may be calculated based on aerodynamic sensitivity values determined by a real-time computerized blade model, the or each gain parameter may be one or more of the following combinations:

pitch to thrust sensitivity, which provides an indication of the sensitivity of the thrust produced by the blades along the rotor axis to changes in dependence on the blade pitch angle;

a pitch-to-torque sensitivity that provides an indication of the sensitivity of the rotor torque to changes in blade pitch angle;

a pitch to wing load sensitivity providing an indication of the sensitivity of the blade wing load to changes in pitch angle; and

pitch to chordal bending moment sensitivity, which provides an indication of the sensitivity of the chordal bending moment to changes in pitch angle.

The computerized blade model implemented in the system is a blade element momentum model that is more computationally efficient than using a blade model with a similar purpose but more complex (e.g., a model based on computational fluid dynamics theory).

In typical wind turbine control, a desired operating point of the wind turbine is selected based on the wind field experienced by the rotor of the wind turbine. The operating point is defined as a point in a multidimensional parameter space spanning two or more of the generator speed, pitch angle, electrical power, electrical torque, wind speed and further parameters for controlling the wind turbine. In an embodiment, the operating point of the wind turbine is selected based on an estimated/experienced wind field of the rotor.

Within the scope of the present application, it is expressly intended that various aspects, embodiments, examples and alternatives set forth in the preceding paragraphs, in the claims and/or in the following description and drawings, and in particular various features thereof, may be taken independently or in any combination. That is, all of the implementations and/or features of any of the implementations may be combined in any manner and/or combination unless such features are incompatible. The applicant reserves the right to alter any originally filed claim or to file any new claim accordingly, including the right to modify any originally filed claim to depend from and/or include any feature of any other claim, even if not originally stated that way.

Drawings

For a more complete understanding of the present invention, the invention will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the following drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a view of a wind turbine having a pitch control system;

FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram illustrating a pitch control system of a wind turbine in more detail;

FIG. 3 is a functional block diagram illustrating a portion of the pitch control system of FIG. 2 in greater detail;

FIG. 4 is a functional block diagram illustrating another portion of the pitch control system of FIG. 2 in greater detail; and

FIG. 5 is a functional block diagram of a wind estimator as shown in FIG. 3.

Detailed Description

Referring initially to FIG. 1, a wind turbine 10 includes a tower 12 supporting a nacelle 14, with a rotor 16 mounted to the nacelle 14. The rotor 16 includes a set of blades 18 coupled to a hub 20. Wind turbine 10 in this example is a Horizontal Axis Wind Turbine (HAWT) that includes three blades. However, the skilled person will appreciate alternative configurations.

As is common in wind turbine designs configured for variable speed operation, wind turbine 10 is equipped with a pitch control system 22 by which blades 18 can be controlled such that blades 18 are angularly adjustable about their longitudinal axes. This may be achieved by a pitch controller 24, the pitch controller 24 being operable to command a set of pitch actuators 26 to respective pitch positions.

An embodiment of blade pitch control system 22 is shown in more detail in FIG. 2. In general, the blade pitch controller 24 includes a plurality of pitch control modules 30a-d that are collectively operable to provide three pitch control signals to respective pitch actuators 32 a-c. More specifically, the pitch of the first blade is responded to the first pitch control signal P by the first pitch actuator 32a_ASetting, by second pitch actuator 32b, the pitch of the second blade in response to second pitch control signal P_BSetting upAnd the pitch of the third blade is responded to the third pitch control signal P by the third pitch control actuator 30c_CAnd (4) setting.

The three pitch actuators 32a-c are shown here as a single unit, but it will be appreciated that in practice each pitch actuator will be specific to each of the blades 18.

In this embodiment, each of pitch control modules 30a-d implements a suitable control law configured to control a process variable (e.g., measured pitch position) such that the process variable satisfies a reference or control variable (e.g., target pitch position). This control law may be a PID-based control law, but may be a simplified control law if the circumstances permit.

In fig. 2, the pitch controller is shown as a separate entity, however in general the functions of the pitch controller may be implemented as functional elements of a general or main controller of the wind turbine.

The four pitch control modules 30a-d work together to provide a composite pitch signal input that is combined to form an independent pitch control signal P_A-P_C. Thus, each of the control modules 30a-30d is provided as a final pitch signal P for each blade_A-P_CThe pitch signal of the component(s).

In general, the four pitch control modules 30a-30d are: a thrust control module 30a, a speed control module 30b, an Independent Pitch Control (IPC) module 30c, and a lateral tower damping (SSTD) control module 30 d.

The thrust control module 30a is responsible for regulating the axial thrust generated on the rotor. The thrust forces tend to tilt the nacelle and thus exert bending moments on the tower of the wind turbine, which are desirably controlled within acceptable limits.

The speed control module 30b is responsible for controlling the torque produced by the rotor to be equal to a requested or reference torque value. The reference value may be set by a higher level speed/power controller of the wind turbine.

The IPC control module 30c is responsible for controlling the individual pitch of the blades in order to meet the predetermined wing load limits for each blade. Such a control signal component may be periodic in nature to control wing loads within acceptable limits as the load on each blade varies as the rotor rotates (e.g., in response to wind gusts at different heights in the rotor disk).

The SSTD control module 30d is responsible for providing damping for lateral movement of the nacelle (that is, movement transverse to the rotor axis). The SSTD control module 30d does this by providing cyclic pitch adjustment for each blade in order to adjust the horizontal forces acting on the rotor and thereby adjust the support structure of the wind turbine.

The output signals of thrust control module 30a and speed control module 30b (labeled herein as P1 and P2), respectively, are combined into a single collective pitch control signal P_COLL. The signal is then split into three components and input to respective summing points 34 a-c. Then the collective blade pitch signal P_COLLIn combination with the individual blade pitch control signals output by the IPC control module 30c and the SSTD control module 30d, as described below.

The IPC control module 30c and the SSTD control module 30d each output three pitch control signals, shown here as P3-P5 and P6-P8, respectively. Since the IPC control module 30c and the SSTD control module 30d output control signals specific to one of each blade, the control signal pairs are combined at respective summing points 36 a-c. More specifically, the control signals P3 and P6 are combined at summing point 36a to derive a control signal P10 associated with pitch control actuator 32 a; the control signals P4 and P7 are combined at summing point 36b to derive a control signal P11 associated with pitch actuator 32 b; and the control signals P5 and P8 are combined at summing point 36c to derive a control signal P12 associated with pitch actuator 32 c.

Finally, the blade-specific pitch control signals P10-P12 are summed with the collective pitch signal P at summing points 34a-c_COLLAre combined and are output as blade pitch signals P, respectively_A、P_BAnd P_C。

At this point it should be understood that although four pitch control modules are provided herein, an alternative and somewhat simplified system may include fewer control modules. For example, only one control module may be required if sufficient pitch control can be achieved simply by controlling the speed of the wind turbine. In practice, however, pitch control methods typically feature collective pitch control elements and individual pitch control elements, particularly in commercial scale wind turbine systems.

Each of the control modules 30a-30d may include at least one controller gain value. In known control methods, the controller gain values are optimized before or during installation of the wind turbine. Alternatively, it is known to vary the controller gain value in dependence of the operating conditions (wind speed, generator power, rotor speed) at which the wind turbine is operating based on a predetermined schedule. Such gain schedules are determined in an offline environment and are configured to update the gain values of one or more control modules once a predetermined operating point of the wind turbine is reached.

In the illustrated embodiment of the invention, the controller gain values may vary according to a computerized online or "real-time" Blade Element Momentum (BEM) model 50. The BEM model runs in real time and outputs various aerodynamic sensitivity parameters to the blade control modules 30 a-d. In turn, the blade control modules 30a-d may be operable to calculate updated gain values implemented in the control laws therein.

In general, the BEM model 50 is implemented as an algorithm that receives operational data input from a suitable source, as will be described, and the BEM model 50 is operable to output:

a pitch-to-thrust sensitivity signal 52 that provides an indication of the sensitivity of the thrust produced by the blades (along the rotor axis) to changes in pitch angle;

a pitch-to-torque sensitivity signal 54 that provides an indication of the sensitivity of the rotor torque to changes in pitch angle;

a pitch-to-wing load bending moment sensitivity signal 56 that provides an indication of the sensitivity of the blade wing loads in response to changes in pitch angle; and

a pitch to chord bending moment sensitivity signal 58 provides an indication of the sensitivity of the chord bending moment to changes in pitch angle.

To derive the above-described aerodynamic sensitivity signals 52-58, the BEM model 50 receives the following inputs: a generator power signal 60, a rotor speed signal 62, a measured blade pitch angle signal 64, and an air density signal 66. These signals may be obtained from a suitable sensing system associated with the wind turbine and, for example, transmitted directly to the controller or sourced from a system data bus.

Reference will now also be made to fig. 3, which shows a possible structural embodiment of the BEM model 50.

The BEM module 50 includes an aerodynamic sensitivity calculator module 70 that implements a blade element momentum model, and a wind estimation module 72. As known to the skilled person, the BEM model is a fusion of blade element theory and momentum theory, which is used to analyze the performance of the wind turbine rotor. A complete description will not be provided here, since these theories are well understood by engineers working in the field of wind turbine blade design and are furthermore documented in contemporary textbooks, e.g., aerodynamics of wind turbines, authors M Hansen: ISBN No. 978-1-84407-: ISBN No.978-0-470 and 69975-1.

The aerodynamic sensitivity calculator module 70 performs blade load calculations based on the lift and drag coefficients of the blades 18, the calculations being predetermined values based on the design of the blades 18. The calculation is based on an operating point of the wind turbine, which may be defined by a rotor speed signal 62, a measured blade pitch angle signal 64, and an air density signal 66. In addition to these signals, the aerodynamic sensitivity calculation module 70 also receives signals indicative of the estimated wind speed through the rotor region, which are determined by the wind speed estimation module 72.

The wind speed estimation module 72 provides an estimated wind speed value at or near a rotor plane defined by the blades 18 of the wind turbine. This value is not measurable by a standard wind speed sensor typically mounted to the nacelle of the wind turbine. It is important to note that the "free wind speed" measured by conventional wind speed measurement and estimation techniques, such as anemometers and LIDAR sensors (light direction and ranging), is not a suitable parameter for use in the online blade model calculations discussed herein. The following discussion will make this clear.

In order to be able to calculate the forces generated along the blade, it is necessary to know the relative wind speed (Vrel) and the angle of attack of the blade. As the skilled person will appreciate, the relative wind speed depends on two main parameters: wind speed at the rotor plane (Va) and wind speed due to rotation of the rotor (Vrot). As understood by those skilled in the art, momentum theory states that the free wind speed (Vo) and the rotor plane wind speed (Va) are related by the axial induction (a) of the rotor. The axial induction depends on the rotor plane wind speed (Va), the pitch angle of the blades and the rotor speed. More specifically, the expression may be regarded as Va ═ (1-a) Vo. The calculation of rotor plane wind speed based on the above theory is computationally intensive and not suitable for real-time implementation in critical machine control environments.

However, in this embodiment, the wind speed estimation module 72 is based on predicted aerodynamic power (P)_BEM) Calculating an estimated rotor plane wind speed (V)_EST) The wind speed estimation module 72 receives as input the parameters from the aerodynamic sensitivity calculation module 70, and the actual generated power (P) received by the wind speed estimation module 72_GEN) As a direct input. Thus, the need for computationally intensive real-time calculations is avoided, while also enabling an accurate estimation of the wind speed at the plane of the rotor (that is to say the wind speed through the planar sweep region defined by the blades of the rotor as it rotates).

One embodiment of the wind speed estimation module 72 is shown in FIG. 5. In this embodiment, an estimate of the wind speed at the rotor disk is calculated based on the difference between the actual generated power of the wind turbine and the estimated generated aerodynamic power as estimated by the aerodynamic sensitivity calculation module 70. As will be appreciated from the following discussion, this method of calculating rotor wind speed is less computationally intensive than an estimation method based solely on momentum theory involving real-time iterative calculation of the axial introduction factor of the rotor.

In fig. 5, the power is measured by a slave measured grid power signal P_GENSubtracting the estimated grid power signal P_GESTDetermining the power error signal P at the summing point 73_ERR. However, the signal P_GESTNot directly input, but based on the aerodynamic power signal P_BEMCalculated, as provided by the aerodynamic sensitivity calculation module 70. More particularly, the aerodynamic power signal P_BEMIs fed to a loss calculator 74, which loss calculator 74 calculates mechanical losses associated with the wind turbine drive train and electrical losses associated with the wind turbine converter device, thereby providing a power loss signal P_LOSS. Then, at summing point 75, from the aerodynamic power signal P_BEMSubtracting the power loss signal P_LOSSTo obtain an estimated grid power signal P_GEST。

Based on the power error signal P_ERRBy making the power error signal P_ERRThe correction signal P is determined by the gain block 75_CORR. Correction signal P_CORRAdded to the rotor plane wind estimate signal V from previous samples_EST(fed by unit delay 76) and the resulting signal V_{EST_0}To the stability limiting module 77. The function of the stability limit module 77 is in fact to verify the incoming V_{EST_0}Corrections made to the signal. To this end, the stability limit module 77 also receives as inputs the pitch angle signal 64 and the rotor speed signal 62. Using these two signals, the stability limit module 77 determines the effective upper and lower limits of the rotor wind speed and ensures that the incoming rotor wind speed signal V_{EST_0}Within these limits. The stability limiting module 77 may implement this functionality in various ways as understood by the skilled person. As an example, one embodiment may be based on a lookup table that associates acceptable upper and lower rotor speed values with particular operating points based on pitch angle and rotor speed.

It should be appreciated from the above discussion that the wind estimation module 72 does not require computation based on the computational weight of the blade model, but rather bases the estimated rotor wind speed on the convergence between the measured power delivered by the wind turbine and the estimated power determined by the blade model implemented in the aerodynamic sensitivity calculation module 70.

Returning to FIG. 3, the input signals 62, 64, 66 and V received by the aerodynamic sensitivity calculation module 70_ESTProviding it with information relating to the current operating point of the wind turbine; i.e. current blade pitch, rotor wind speed, rotor speed and air density. Based on this definition of the current operating point, the aerodynamic sensitivity calculator module 70 is able to calculate various aerodynamic sensitivities.

For example, the sensitivity of rotor thrust to pitch angle changes may be determined by the following equation (e.g., a 0 th order estimate):

the above derivation involves the pitch to thrust sensitivity signal 52 as described above.

A further example is the sensitivity of the blade wing load bending moment to pitch angle variations, which can be detected by the following equation:

the above derivation involves the pitch to wing load bending moment sensitivity signal 56 as described above.

Further, the following equation provides rotor torque to pitch angle variation sensitivity, which relates to pitch to torque sensitivity signal 54 as described above:

while the following equation provides sensitivity of the edge direction or "out-of-plane" bending moment to pitch angle variations, which corresponds to the pitch versus chord bending moment sensitivity signal 58 as described above.

In the above equations, θ₀、V₀、Ω₀(Pitch angle,Wind speed, rotor speed) are the calculated operating points, Δ V, Δ θ are the wind speed and pitch range that complete the 0 th order approximation, and M is_x、F_yRespectively the corresponding estimated in-plane bending moment and in-plane external force of the blade root.

In general, it will be understood that BEM model 50 is capable of determining the following sensitivity measurements:

thrust F_ySensitivity to pitch, rotor speed and wind speed.

Driving bending moment M_ySensitivity to pitch, rotor speed and wind speed.

Blade bending moment M_xSensitivity to pitch, rotor speed and wind speed.

Transverse force F_xSensitivity to pitch, rotor speed and wind speed.

Other sensitivities may be calculated based on these base sensitivities, for example:

sensitivity of the pitch and yaw bending moments to cyclic pitch, wind speed and rotor speed.

Sensitivity of power and torque to collective pitch, wind speed and rotor speed.

Sensitivity of lateral and up-down forces to cyclic pitch, wind speed and rotor speed.

Sensitivity of rotor thrust to collective pitch, wind speed and rotor speed.

The aerodynamic sensitivity variables output from the BEM model 50 are input to the control modules 52-58 and thereafter used to calculate updated gain values in real-time for use within the respective control modules 30 a-d. The following example of how a suitable control gain may be updated will provide a sufficient understanding of this embodiment.

The thrust control module 30a is shown in more detail in FIG. 4. As can be seen, the thrust control module 30a includes a control law 80, a gain block 82, and a gain calculator 84. As already mentioned, the control law 82 may suitably be in the form of a PID control law or a simplified version thereof.

Control law 80 acts on modified error input E' and outputs collective pitch signal P_{COLL_THRUST}To reduce the corrected error signal to zero. CorrectionIs determined by a gain block 82, the gain block 82 acting on an initial error signal E derived from the difference between the target thrust value 86 and the actual or measured thrust value 88 calculated at the summing point 90. It is noted that the target thrust value 86 may be received from a higher level controller and the measured value 88 may be received from a data bus of the wind turbine or directly from a suitable measurement or control system.

The error signal E is input to a gain block 82, and the gain block 82 then calculates a modified error signal E'. As described above, the thrust control module 30a receives continuously updated aerodynamic sensitivity signals, more specifically the pitch versus thrust sensitivity signal 52, from the real-time BEM model 50. This provides the thrust control module 30a with a synchronization value based on the main operating point of the wind turbine 10, which has the sensitivity or responsiveness of the thrust changes resulting from the pitch changes. As an example, to calculate a suitable gain value, the gain calculator 84 may use the following equation:

in the above formula:

·

is the sensitivity calculated by the online BEM model 50 as in equation (1).

·

Is a parameter representing a "nominal" sensitivity, and

·K_TLis the desired controller gain at nominal sensitivity.

It should be noted here that the nominal sensitivity may be the sensitivity of the rotor thrust to pitch changes at the rated wind speed, which will be the position where the thrust is highest. Thus, the controller gain K can be calculated at this operating point_TLAnd the gain schedule will be corrected for other operating points.

It will be appreciated that the same principles and the same structure as for the thrust control module 30a shown in fig. 4 may also be applied to the

other control modules

30b, 30c, and 30 d.

For example, the lateral tower damping control modules 30d may have a common structure, although the gain blocks may be updated with different gain values calculated by the gain calculator 84. For example, the gain calculator may implement the following formula to calculate the gain required in real time:

in the above formula:

·K_SSis the nominal gain.

·

Is the sensitivity of nominal lateral force to the cyclic pitch amplitude, an

·

Is the sensitivity of force to pitch in the plane derived from the online BEM model 50 as described above in equation (4).

It will be appreciated from the above discussion that embodiments of the present invention provide a control system in which selected gain terms of the control system are continuously updated based at least in part on the prevailing operating point of the wind turbine, as implemented by a computerized real-time blade model. This provides a more accurate adjustment of the control mechanism under control (in this case the pitch control mechanism) as the gain term of the relevant controller can be adjusted in response to changes in the operating point of the wind turbine. A particular advantage is that the controller performance is still high even if the operating point of the wind turbine is beyond the normally expected operating point, so that the wind turbine performs well under abnormal conditions (e.g. extreme temperature operation, start-up and shut-down during strong wind conditions, etc.).

The skilled person will understand that modifications may be made to the specific embodiments discussed above without departing from the inventive concept defined by the claims.

For example, in the illustrated embodiment, the gain block 82 acts on the error signal E and then passes the modified error signal to the control law 80. It should be noted, however, that the control module 30a may be configured to cause the gain calculator 84 to update a gain term, such as any proportional, integral, or derivative gain term, contained within the control law.

Note that in the discussion above, the various control modules and functional blocks have been described as separate functional units. However, this is to be understood as a recognized convention, and no limitation on how this functionality may be implemented in software, firmware, or hardware should be construed as such.

Claims

1. A wind turbine control system comprising:

a controller of a control mechanism of a wind turbine, wherein the controller implements a computerized real-time blade model to calculate operational parameters of the controller,

and wherein the computerized real-time blade model receives as inputs the determined wind turbine operating point and the real-time estimated rotor plane wind speed value; and

wherein the estimated rotor plane wind speed value is calculated from a difference between an actually generated power value and an estimated generated power value.

2. The wind turbine control system of claim 1, wherein the estimated generated power value is obtained from the computerized real-time blade model.

3. A wind turbine control system according to claim 1 or 2, comprising one or more control modules, each outputting a control signal for controlling the control mechanism.

4. A wind turbine control system according to claim 3, wherein the operating parameters calculated by the computerized real-time blade model are used to calculate one or more gain parameters associated with the or each control module.

5. A wind turbine control system according to claim 4, wherein the or each gain parameter is a control term of a control law implemented in the respective control module.

6. A wind turbine control system according to claim 4, wherein the or each gain parameter is calculated based on aerodynamic sensitivity values determined by the computerized real-time blade model.

7. The wind turbine control system of claim 6, wherein the aerodynamic sensitivity value is one of the following combinations:

8. A wind turbine control system according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the computerized blade model is a blade element momentum model.

9. A wind turbine control system according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the control mechanism is a pitch control mechanism.

10. A wind turbine control system according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the estimated rotor plane wind speed is the wind speed of the planar swept area of the rotating blades.

11. A method of controlling a control mechanism of a wind turbine, the method comprising:

wherein the computerized real-time blade model receives as inputs the determined wind turbine operating point and the real-time estimated rotor plane wind speed value; and